Questions and Answers > EB-5 Investments

How can a potential EB-5 investor provide five years of income tax receipts if they only recently started a business?

I am a 23-year-old foreign entrepreneur who wants to move my business operations to Austin, Texas using the EB-5 visa program. I have read several places that income tax receipts for the past five years are required. If I only started my business recently, and thus do not have receipts for the past five years, how can I these provide income tax receipts? Also, does the age of the investor affect EB-5 visa approval?

Answers

• Julia Roussinova

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on July 11, 2014

  The age is not relevant. If your business has not existed for 5 years, you are required to show business tax returns only from the date it was legally formed to present. Personal income tax returns may be submitted for the full five years unless you were not required to file personal income tax returns which may be documented by a local accountant or tax attorney. Certain countries do not require personal income tax return filings and employers are required to file for employees instead and provide them with W-2 like forms that would demonstrate income and taxes withheld and paid to applicable tax authorities. Please contact an experienced EB-5 immigration attorney such to discuss the details of your case.

• Lei Jiang

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on July 3, 2014

  If you do not have it and have legitimate reasons for not having it, that is fine. You need to explain to USCIS. Your immigration attorney will do this.

• Philip H Teplen

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on June 24, 2014

  If you were not required to file tax returns for the last five years, then you need to explain such as part of the confirmation of legal funds. This is a sophisticated process and requires legal counsel.

• Ying Lu

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on June 20, 2014

  Five years'' income tax receipts are not necessary. Only when your source of funds comes from your business income, then your business''s tax records will be relevant. Please consult an experienced EB-5 attorney about the documents that you will need to provide.

• Robert Loughran

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on June 19, 2014

  It is a fundamental component of the EB-5 program that the investor establish the lawful source of funds. Tax returns are used as a form of evidence to show that the money was acquired lawfully. If you have not been earning an income for five years, it can be presumed that the money was gifted to you and we must show that the grantor of the gift acquired the source funds legally. Therefore, the grantor''s tax returns and other evidence of source of funds may be needed. Age and lack of experience is an issue, but it can be overcome with appropriate evidence. For more information please schedule a consultation to go over your immigration options.

• Ed Beshara

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on June 17, 2014

  The USCIS requires information and documentation to show the lawful source of funds regardless of the number of years it took to accumulate.

• BoBi Ahn

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on June 11, 2014

  No, age does not affect EB-5 approval. Income tax receipts are just one way of demonstrating proof of capital or source of funds. Besides, that requirement asks for returns filed within five years, not five years'' worth of returns. Providing what recent records/returns you have filed within the last five years is satisfactory. Other forms of proof include bank statements, evidence of purchased assets, business registration records, etc. - the list is not exhaustive, and there are myriad acceptable documents and ways to show proof.

• John J Downey

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on June 11, 2014

  You cannot submit what you do not have. Provide the years you have, along with an explanation. Your age should not affect your application.

• Fredrick W Voigtmann

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on June 11, 2014

  The regulatory requirement is not for five years of income tax returns; the requirement is to prove that the invested funds were lawfully obtained. Showing five years of tax returns is but one way listed in the regulations to show how the invested capital was lawfully obtained. There are other ways listed, and comparable evidence or other evidence showing the lawful accumulation of income may be submitted. The age of the investor does not affect EB-5 approval. As long as the investor is of legal age to sign the documents, the investor may apply for EB-5 classification.

• Salvatore Picataggio

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on June 11, 2014

  Do you mean personal tax returns as part of the authentication of your source of funds, or tax returns for the business that will be the EB-5 project? You need to be able to authenticate your source of investment funds, and tax returns are a decent way to do so in addition to salary statements, proof of sale of property or assets, etc. For the business, you need to show it will be able to support the creation of 10 jobs. Since the business is to be created, a business plan and financial projections will be needed, but probably not tax returns. Rumors and misinformation are, unfortunately, all too prevalent in the EB-5 area, so retain experienced EB-5 counsel to assist you.

• Lynne Feldman

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on June 11, 2014

  Were you named on your parents'' tax returns? You could show that or a letter from your accountant that you were not required to file taxes prior to this year.

• Romy Jurado

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on June 11, 2014

  You will not need to provide five years of income tax receipts for a new business. You will need to provide a comprehensive business plan. The age of the investor should not affect the adjudication.

• Karen-Lee Pollak

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on June 11, 2014

  Your age does not matter. The key issue is the source of funds for the investment. If you cannot show five years of tax returns and your funds are coming from your business, show bank statements and other evidence of how you obtained the funds for the investment. Or if the funds are a gift, show evidence of the income of the person making the gift.

• Sufen Hilf

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on June 11, 2014

  If you just started your business and have made either a $500,000 or $1 million required invested fund, you will only need to provide whatever years your business has been in operation. You do not have to provide all five years.

• Olga Karasik

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on June 11, 2014

  Five years of tax returns are not mandatory. You have to show the source of funds you are using for your EB-5 investment. It can be an inheritance or sale of substantial asset. Or if you earned all that money in one year, that will be sufficient.

• Jinhee Wilde

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on June 11, 2014

  Age is not an issue as you are an adult. However, in order to show that you are qualified a EB-5 investor, you need to show that you have the income or net assets required. Please note that EB-5 investment is $1 million or $500,000 if located in TEA or rural area as an exception to the $1 million rule. Just relocating a business does not qualify. If you are trying to relocate your start-up business, you may think of doing a L-1 route and set up a subsidiary of your foreign business and operate it for few years instead of EB-5.